


Public Expectations and the Management Thereof

by Zwergenmaedchen



Category: British Actor RPF, Good Omens (TV) RPF
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gender Issues, I'm Sorry, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Non-Sexual Showering, RPF, again i know, but no smut, hard conversations, implied polyamory, maybe? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23081455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zwergenmaedchen/pseuds/Zwergenmaedchen
Summary: David turns away from him (and the mirror, Michael notices) to re-do the bun higher up on his head, presumably so he can sleep on his back without having to lie on it.'You're gonna look so pretty,' Michael says with what he hopes is an encouraging smile that David won't even see but hopefully hear, but David stiffens half-motion, just for a second, then continues with his task.David is growing his hair out and Michael has an opinion. So does David, it turns out.
Relationships: Michael Sheen/David Tennant
Comments: 14
Kudos: 78





	Public Expectations and the Management Thereof

**Author's Note:**

> Um yeah, so I was trying to write something fun and fluffy but I tripped and the Angst fell in. Idk, this turned into pretty much only dialogue at the end and im not sure if I'll write more for this or not. If you'd like me to think about this idea for another month or so, let me know in the comments.  
> Also, it should go without saying, but for this fic especially: I am not in _any_ way insinuating that this is real or should be or that I want it to be. I just had a thought and it ran away with me and here we are.

David is hovering. He is not right behind Michael but if Michael took just one step to the right, he would be.

'Stop that.'

'I don't know what you mean,' David exclaims, holding up his hands.

'You're crowding me!'

'Al-right. I'm just gonna. Wait somewhere else. Just don't hurt yourself, please, will you?'

Michael decides on a good-humoured sneer in lieu of an answer. David just shakes his head and closes the door behind him.

'Can't a man cook his man a nice dinner in peace?' Michael mumbles to himself, smiling, concentrating on peeling his onion again. Without a potato peeler this time, he _is_ capable of learning, thank you very much.

At the end of the day, his Zwiebelkuchen turned out just fine, David has to admit. And Michael is not gonna admit he only chose that particular dish so he could terrify David by bringing a whole bag of onions into the kitchen and telling him, yes, he'd definitely need all of them. Of course, David had offered to help. But it was Michael's gift for him, to cook him dinner and just have a nice relaxed evening, so obviously he had to decline. What he obviously couldn't decline, was David's offer to take care of dessert and even if David had ended up being the only one fed anything, Michael isn't about to complain anytime soon. 

'Let's get you cleaned up, hmh?' he asks, yawning already.

David grins up at him and gracefully rises from the bed. He doesn't look back as he enters the en-suite but he leaves the door open for Michael to follow in his own time. Thoughtful bastard. It's almost too comfortable in David's bed but the sound of water hitting the tiled floor and David humming along to some melody unknown to Michael compels him to get up yet.

He joins David in the shower with a kiss to his shoulder, pressing up close behind him and resting his arms around David's middle. Leaning back into him, David turns his head to give him a quick kiss. It's all very nice. Michael sighs happily.

'Stop wriggling,' David laughs.

'Why?'

'One of us is gonna slip and fall and break something and _die_.'

Good thing David isn't dramatic at all.

'I'll watch out for you,' Michael says and lets his hands glide up over David's chest. David catches them in his own and places a kiss on both his palms, then releases them again with a short shake of the head. He's tired and so is Michael, if he's being honest with his own aging self.

He watches David comb his hair while finishing his shower and towels off as he's putting it up in a messy bun.

'It's gonna be all wavy tomorrow, if you sleep with it like that,' he tells David, just for something to say.

'Uh yeah, I… I know.' David turns away from him (and the mirror, Michael notices) to re-do the bun higher up on his head, presumably so he can sleep on his back without having to lie on it.

'You're gonna look so pretty,' Michael says with what he hopes is an encouraging smile that David won't even see but hopefully hear, but David stiffens half-motion, just for a second, then continues with his task.

'I just, I've been meaning to have it cut, but something always comes in between and I don't know, it just. Happened.' He shrugs. Reaches for his pyjamas without turning around again.

There's a strange atmosphere in the room and Michael can't put his finger on why that is. It doesn't end when David leaves and it follows Michael into the bedroom as well. Or maybe it preceded him there? David is tucked in, lights off on his side of the bed (and Michael is still marvelling at the fact that there is a _your side_ and a _my side_ in David's bed for him). When Michael leans over to kiss him good night, David lets him, which isn't half as nice as David reciprocating, Michael finds. He strokes David's cheek with his thumb, softly murmuring 'Hey,' to get his attention.

When David opens his eyes, he only glances up at Michael briefly, then down at the space between them, biting his lower lip. 

'What's going on?' Michael asks. 'I'm sorry if I said something to offend you. Didn't mean to joke. I really do like that longer hair on you. And you do look very pretty with it.' He tries the encouraging smile again, but David scrunches his nose in embarrassment. There goes that smile then.

Trying another angle, Michael says: ' If you want, my sister is pretty decent at hair cuts. I can call her, see if she wants to come over tomorrow?'

Silence.

'I mean, it's not like. We don't have to tell her anything. Everyone knows we're friends, so it's like, not a big deal.'

'You haven't told your family?' David looks up at that.

'Nah, not as long as you don't say it's okay to tell.' Michael shrugs. He's told Anna, and Lilly of course, but David knows that. 'So, should I make the call?'

'In the middle of the night? No, it's. It's fine.'

'It _clearly_ isn't.'

'Let's just sleep. It's fine.' David rolls on his back, avoiding Michael's gaze. 'Good night, Michael,' he adds in a softer tone. 

Michael waits for another minute or two, before turning off his light and saying good night with a sigh. Maybe it really is nothing. He doubts it.

~

Expectedly, David looks extremely pretty in the morning. His bun has come off during the night and his hair is an ocean of soft dark waves against the light pillow case. He's still asleep and Michael watches his chest rise and fall steadily, his face relaxed, mouth slightly open in soundless in- and exhales. Michael considers kissing him awake, but given where they've left things off last night, he's not quite sure.

David blinks and Michael tries to look innocent.

'Are you watching me sleep?'

'Are you still sleeping?'

'Mmh...yes…'

'Then, yes, I am.'

Pulling the blanket up over his face, David turns to the other side. 'Stop that,' he mumbles.

Michael sighs and starts to get up when there's a hand at his back. Then another and then David is kissing his neck.

'M'sorry. Come back?'

'Of course,' Michael answers and lets himself get pulled into David's arms. (Because when would he ever not?)

'Don't laugh,' David starts and waits for Michael to shake his head before he continues, 'but I also like it longer. My hair, I mean.'

'Why would I laugh at that? And why do you want to have it cut, then?'

'Urgh, I don't know. It's not you. Sorry I'm making a big deal of it. It's not.'

Michael highly doubts it but he doesn't say that.

'People have … opinions. About my hair,' David continues haltingly. 'And I mean, sure, I know people have opinions about pretty much everything about me, I know that, it doesn't bother me. Or it does, but not so much, you know?'

Michael lets him ramble on a bit about public expectations and the management thereof and it feels like David is getting further away from the point that is actually nagging him. Turning around in his arms, he waits for a break in David's monologue and stops him with a kiss.

'None of this is new. What is the new thing?' Michael asks.

'I- this is gonna sound stupid, but-'

'Still nothing new, then,' Michael teases and David gives him a withering look. It's followed by a grateful smile, though, so Michael doesn't feel too bad about it.

'Okay fine, I was going to say this is not at all about you, but honestly, _technically_ it is.' David is clearly playing up the exasperation and Michael rewards him with a shocked expression. 

'It's just. I like you, Michael. An awful lot. And I know that you and I, and all the people that really matter, we know that it doesn't matter, it doesn't _change_ me. I mean, obviously you do change me, but not on a fundamental level, you know?'

Michael nods.

'But the _people_. They're gonna look at me differently. They're gonna look at everything I've ever done and they're gonna look at everything I do and they're gonna look for _signs_ and and and … they're gonna look at _me_ and they're gonna say they always knew and how obvious it was. And they're gonna say it was all a lie. My whole life, my family, my _kids_. They're gonna say it's wrong and it's a lie and that's. They're gonna hurt them.'

'They're gonna hurt you,' Michael whispers.

'And you.'

'Yeah, but that's not the point. So … tell me if I'm getting this all mixed up. I don't want to assume anything, okay?' David gestures at him to continue, then runs a hand over his face, looking exhausted.

'So,' Michael starts again, 'you want to grow your hair out.'

David nods.

'But, you're … apprehensive about people's reactions.'

'You can just say _scared_ , I know it's stupid.'

'It's really not. So, you're scared of- what? People calling you a girl? People finding out about us and calling you a- a fag?' Michael stumbles on the last word. He wants to be strong and unbothered for David but this is all very close to his own trauma and fears.

David winces. 

'It wouldn't even be new, exactly. I've been called all that before. I think I'm just tired of people judging me for, for stuff they have no right to judge me for. If it's about my work, alright, bring on the critics, I can take that. But my family, my body, my life. That doesn't belong to them.'

'You're right. Don't give them that power over you, then. Grow your hair out. Put on some lipstick. Wear a pretty dress. I don't care. The people who love you, they don't care.'

'I don't want all that,' David laughs. 'I just like the way I look with long hair. Makes me look softer.'

'I like you soft. And however you like yourself best. I'll always support you in all that.'

David hugs him quite suddenly and rather tightly and Michael nuzzles into the touch. 'You also don't have to figure all this out today, you know?' Michael says into David's shoulder. 

'I know. Thank you.'


End file.
